Our understanding of the importance of being a vegan is
only the first step in our climb upward. With veganism firmly planted in
our souls, we learn to spiritually walk, then run, and then fly. We can
heighten and expand our understanding of being vegan.

Thirty-three years ago, I became a 12-year-old ethical
vegetarian. In my early adult years as an ethical vegetarian, somehow, I
was still preparing meat for my fiancé. One day, I realized I could not
lower my standards for a man, any man. I stopped, and he (the man who
was to become my first husband) eventually became vegan himself.
Veganism marries us to a greater universal Truth beyond the marriages we
contrive in the soap operas of our lives.

At age 21, a magazine entitled "Ahimsa" was placed in
front of my face while I was eating. It was written by H. Jay Dinshah,
founder of the American Vegan Society. His brilliant writing instantly
convinced me to be a vegan. I could no longer rationalize eating ice
cream or dairy cheese. That was that, I was henceforth a vegan. I
clearly saw that animals had a right to live free of abuse. I then
gained an even loftier "overviewing" of the rights of animals upon
meeting the founders of Gentle World. From them, I learned to actually
love animals. The guilt-free reality that comes with being vegan opened
the doorway to having relationships with animals and discovering that
they have personalities and unique individuality just like we do. They
have proven to be exceptionally loyal friends that I wouldn't trade in
for human friendships, for the most part! Once the animals had become
personal friends, the desire grew strong in me to save them. It became a
great part of my life's mission to "speak the word for beast and bird,
'till the world shall set things right!" (Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

When I first became vegan, it seemed so easy to see (and
still does for that matter!) the truth of it. Why couldn't others see
what was so obvious? I became a bit of a misanthrope because mankind was
so blind to the plight of animals. The resentment I felt towards
humanity was easily felt by people and didn't do much to encourage
converts. But once again, I evolved. I saw: "You cannot cure the human
race if Loves not in your heart; Loves where you have to start!" (Light)
With this new viewing, I was on the road to making vegans through
whatever angle I could reach them. There is an art form in discovering
what it will take with each individual for them to become enlightened to
veganism. For example, my brother was convinced through the scientific
and medical aspects. Later on, the true reason: compassion came to him.
Inevitably, if we donut understand the ethics that it is wrong to cause
suffering and pain and make that a part of our being, our veganism wont
endure. Being a vegan because of health benefits, most likely, is not a
strong enough pull to carry us through all life's temptations
forevermore.

In its early years, my veganism was born of an innocent
child's not wanting to hurt animals. I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland,
Ohio. I never knew another vegan/vegetarian, (except my best friend at
the time who joined in and did it with me.) There were no health food
stores (that I knew of), and I came from a standard American meat-eating
family. The desire "not to hurt animals" was seen like a stroke of
enlightened genius, that I only wish I saw other truths of life with
such clarity. As the years went on and the animal rights movement
developed, I learned that veganism was, in fact, a Truth; something that
was right and reasonable no matter from what angle you looked at it.

Books like Diet for a New America by John Robbins or
Beyond Beef; The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture by Jeremy Rifkin
exposed the environmental sanity of a plant-based diet and the
humanitarian aspect that world hunger could be put to a halt. At the
same time, medical findings of Michael Klaper, M.D. and Neal Barnard,
M.D., and others, were proving that plant-based nutrition was the
cleanest fuel for our human bodies. (It's worth a mention that when I
became vegan, I didn't know it was healthier! Quite the contrary, people
were alarmed that my parents allowed me to follow my convictions. They
wondered where would I get my protein? "She will die," they thought.)
Veganism for me had now evolved to a great Truth that I share with some
of the great minds of all time that knew there is no spiritual
advancement while living off cruelty, torture and the subjugation of
others.

In my evolving veganism, I learned that preparing
incredibly delicious food for others was a powerful aid, one of the
strongest. So I fed people, lots of people. I fed them food just like
what they were used to eating; Lasagna, burgers, shakes, all plant-based
and incredibly delicious. Long hours preparing the food at The Vegan
Restaurant on Maui, in its beginning years, co-authoring Incredibly
Delicious; Recipes for a New Paradigm by Gentle World, catering
Celebrity Vegetarian banquets in California, food fairs, free seminars
with meals and packaged plant-based foods sold to retailers, all
embellished on this mode of spreading the vegan message. Thrilled taste
buds was worth a thousand words and tantalized even the average truck
driver who never before thought of the Vegan concept.

With the desire to be a good example of a vegan, I
evolved my own dietary practices and endeavor to improve my own health.
I now grow my own food "veganically." I eat fresh from the garden with
food full of life-giving vitamins and minerals. (I take B-12 sublingual
dots). I pass medical exams with impressive figures in comparison to the
norm. Example is the best teacher. Now my family eats a plant-based
diet. Those who have chosen to be a part of my life have become vegan,
even the dogs (and they thrive on it!)

And now I forage through my "veganic" garden for my
dinner; a flower and food-filled garden to nourish the senses. The
garden uses both vegan and organic principles. I dine by the riverside
and think to myself, "Wow, look where my veganism has taken me thus far!
And where will it lead me next?"

Being Vegan, I walk the Earth dressed in a confidence
that this path is leading me to commune with the higher realms of
consciousness and further away from the trivial pursuits of mankind.
Being vegan is a peaceful revolution to what ails our planet today. A
peaceful revolution is synonymous with "Evolution." We change the world,
the course of history even, by changing ourselves; by reprogramming our
thoughts. Being Vegan, we become forerunners of a new race of truly
human beings. Once we become Vegans it doesn't stop there! Veganism is a
count-on-able ally that we use as a tool of evolution for all of our
days.

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